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Bolton, Connecticut 
Bicentennial 

1720-1920 



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A Historical Sketch 



OF 



Bolton Connecticut 



FOR THE 



Bolton Bicentennial Celebration 
September 4, 1920 



"I shall count it with a smile of Providence 
upon me if ever I should be settled among 
such a people as your society seems to be. " 
(Jonathan Edwards 
referring to the people of Bolton ) 



BY 

SAMUEL MORGAN ALVORD 






The Herald Printing Company 

Manchester, Conn. 

1920 



Gift 

A.uthor 



SEP 20 «20 



Historical Sketch 

It is an interesting and noteworthy coincidence that 
the three hundredth anniversary of the landing of the 
Pilgrims falls on the same year as the two hun- 
dredth anniversary of the incorporation of Bolton. 
We concede superiority to Plymouth but it is worth while 
to note that the small towns of New England were an 
essential element in transmitting the life and principles of 
the Pilgrim and Puritan fathers. Small communities such 
as Bolton became the branches by which those ideals of 
which we are so justh'' proud were conveyed to more and 
more distant communities until at length they permeated 
the whole life of our nation and structure of our govern- 
ment. 

The desire to know the first things is inherent in every 
human being. Almost from our infant days we have been 
curious to know about the beginnings of Mother Earth 
and in maturer years interest in things primeval has not 
diminished. The first battle of a great war, the first man 
to discover a new world, the first navigator to encircle the 
globe, the first aviator to cross the ocean by airship, all 
these have won for themselves the applause of the entire 
civilized world. It is right and proper that this should be 
so, for those who initiate things are the ones to whom the 
credit is due for every advance in the life of civilization. 
So it is that our thoughts today with unusual interest are 
centered on the first settlement of this ancient town of 
Bolton. We desire to know who trod these wonderful 
hills and valleys, what pursuits they followed and what 
their manner of life was. 



INDIANS 

Previous to the coming of the white settlers, we must 
picture to ourselves a country heavily wooded with little 
underbrush or shrubbery and few clearings. After a 
somewhat exhaustive research it is mv conviction that no 

(5) 



6 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

part of Bolton or even of Tolland County was ever the 
permanent residence of any considerable number of Indi- 
ans. It is true that Indian arrow-heads have often been 
found within our borders, especially around Cedar Swamp 
Pond. This fact may be explained by noting that it was 
the custom for bands of Indians to journey many miles 
from their homes on hunting- expeditions and make en- 
campment near lakes or streams for months at a time. 
Cedar Swamp and Snipsic were places suitable for such 
encampments. To the west of us along the banks of the 
Connecticut River in East Windsor and East Hartford was 
the Podunk tribe; to the extreme north along the Massa- 
chusetts boundary we find the Nipmunks; to the south 
near East Haddam were the West Nehantics and to the 
east was the powerful tribe of Mohegans, having their 
abode near Norwich and New London. The Mohegans, 
with their chief Uncas and his son Attawanhood or Joshua, 
are the ones in whom we have by far the greatest interest 
for nearly all of Tolland County was claimed by them as a 
part of their hunting grounds. 



EARLIEST DEEDS 

The oldest document on record relating to the transfer 
of land in Bolton is a grant by the General Court of Con- 
necticut to Capt. Thomas Bull for services in the Indian 
Wars, bearing the date May 8, 1673, nearly fifty years be- 
fore the incorporation of the town. A description of the 
grant is found in the Colonial Records of Deeds, Vol III, 
page 42, and is as follows : 

"Capt. Thomas Bull had b}^ grant of the Gen'l Court 
May the 8th 1673 two hundred acres of Land granted him 
which was layd out to him by James Steele and lyeth on 
the East side of the great river near Cedar Swamp & 
abuts on a great rock on the South East corner and on a 
marked tree at the end of a meadow taking in the meadow 
on the South West corner & on a great white oake at the 
south end of a pond on the north east corner & upon a 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 7 

marked tree by the south end of Cedar Swamp on the 
north west corner of the savd parcel of land. Recorded 
May 8, 1684." 

The present residence of Henry Thompson was proba- 
bly near the north end of this grant. Several later surveys 
of the Bull tract were made at the request of the heirs of 
Capt. Bull. In 1726 Samuel Grant exchanged his right in 
"Bull's Farm" so-called for five hundred acres of land at 
the extreme north end of the town which included Rock- 
ville and its excellent water power. 

The following year, 1674, Joshua, son of Uncas, con- 
veyed to Major John Talcott three hundred acres of land 
located "on east side of Connecticut Great River about 
Ten or Twelve miles from ye sd river east beyond Weth- 
ersfield or Hartford bounds east and lyeth in Two places 
about a mile Asunder having a Large Boggy meadow in 
each place being a hundred and fifty Acres in each piece of 
land sold — the firtherest piece which is Southward is 
called by the name Wochokieskeuas and the heither parcell 
northward is called by ye Indians Sagumpsketuck, ." Of 
these two pieces of land the southern one was in Hebron, 
the northern in Bolton, running north from the Jerijah 
Loomis or Eliza Daly place. Forty-five years later the 
title to this land was held by a granddaughter of Col. John 
Talcott, Dorothy Allyn, wife of Pelatiah Allyn of Wind- 
sor, who quit claim her rights to various persons then in 
possession of the grant through misunderstanding. The 
year following, 1675, the same Joshua conveyed to Henry 
Hayward (Howard) for two trucking cloathe coats and 
seven shillings in silver one hundred acres Southwest of 
the Talcott-Allyn tract. 

Joshua died in 1676. His residence at that time was 
near eight mile Island in the town of Lyme where he was 
serving as chief of the Western Nehantics. Like his fa- 
ther, Uncas, he had been a steadfast friend of the English 
and by his will he distributed with lavish hand to his 
white friends the Mohegan hunting grounds of Tolland 
County and vicinity. To some he gave five thousand 
acres, to some four thousand, to some three thousand and 
to others two thousand. Bolton was included in these 
bequests and like its neighbor towns suffered for some 



8 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

3'ears after its incorporation from the conflicting claims of 
the settlers and the "Legatees of Joshua" whom they 
found could not be entirely ignored. Several of the early 
Bolton deeds recognize the rights of the "Legatees." 
There is no evidence that these vast tracts of land with 
their indefinite boundaries were ever divided among the 
legatees. The method of settlement of these conflicting 
claims was varied and perplexing. Some of the Legatees 
relinquished their claims, others received some slight 
remuneration. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 

It would be interesting to know who was the first 
settler within the original bounds of BOLTON, but this 
has not been revealed to the searcher. Undoubtedly there 
were families located here at least ten years before the in- 
corporation of the town. Jabez Loomis was settled here 
as early as March, 1718, as shown by the deed of his 
home lot, now the Charles F. Sumner place. From the 
same source it appears that Francis Smith had settled on 
the present Calvin Hutchinson place as early as May, 1718. 
A Capt. Stephen Bishop, a surveyor, of Guilford, was here 
about the same date. The records of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas state that Jonathan Hubbard of "Hanover or 
Hartford Mountains" was plaintiff against John Bissell of 
Coventry in a case that concerned the moving of grass 
from the plaintiff's land July 7, 1719. 

At the May session of the General Court in 1718 the 
following resolution was passed relating to the settlement 
of Bolton. 

[Session of May 171S.] 

Whereas there is a tract of land lying westward 
of Coventry and Tolland, and eastward of the towns 
upon the river, which lands this Assembly hath in 
some degree suffered and allowed the legatees of 
Joshua, Indian sachem, deceased, to claim, yet al- 
ways with such limitation that this Assembly did 
reserve the settlement thereof to themselves, pro- 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 

vided the said persons, legatees, did not settle the 
same to the mind of this Assembly, which they have 
not done: Be it therefore enacted, that the said land 
be and remain to be an entire town. And to the end 
that the same may be well settled with good inhabit- 
ants and all quarrels prevented, the said John Ham- 
lin, James Wadsworth, John Hooker, John Hall, and 
Hez. Brainerd, be also appointed a committee for the 
settlement of said town, and to take care that there 
be suitable allottments laid out therein, for the re- 
ception of inhabitants Ajho they shall admit into said 
town, with full power to ascertain and determine 
what the legatees shall have and be allowed to them 
for their rights to said land, by any that may be 
allowed by said committee to settle thereon. And 
whereas this Assembly is informed that there are 
several persons settled upon said lands without the 
approbation or consent of this Assembly, or the 
knowledge of said legatees, the said committee are 
directed and ordered to take effectual care of that 
matter. And provided the said committee shall 
think it best to remove said inhabitants from said 
lands they shall take care and order that the legatees 
or settlers next to be admitted pay back unto such 
persons so removed so much as the land is made 
better by their improvement; always provided, that 
such settler or settlers shall peaceably remove upon 
warning given to them by said committee. But if 
said committee shall judge it best to continue any of 
said settlers upon the land settled as aforesaid 
[126], the said committee are to take care that 
they have a suitable accommodation in land laid out 
to them, and also determine what sum or sums of 
money shall be by them paid unto said legatees for 
the same. All charges to be borne and paid out 
of said lands. 

And this Assembly do further declare, that they 
will take further care from time to time for assert- 
ing their right unto all land belonging to the colony 
and not by this Assembly allowed to be settled 
upon, that thereby growing disputes respecting the 
title of the same, as well as litigious and doubtful 
lawsuits thereupon, may be prevented, and that 
the country may be peaceably and regularly settled. 
This committee or any three of them shall have full 
power to act in the affairs abovementioned. 

Col. Rec. of Conn. 1717-1725. pp. 63-64. 



10 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

An act relating to the same matter was passed by the 

General Court at the October session 1719 which reads as 

follows : 

[Oct. Session 1719.] 

Whereas in an act passed by this Assembly May 
1718, for regulating and settling a plantation on 
the mountain east of Hartford, it is among other 
things resolved, that if the committee therein ap- 
pointed should see cause to remove any of those 
settled on said mountain, they should take care that 
the legatees or settlers next to be admitted should 
pay back, to such persons so removed, so much as 
the land was made better [194] for their improve- 
ment: And whereas said committee did remove 
an inhabitant from an allotment on said mountain 
which was both originally and also by said com- 
mittee designed for a minister's lot, whereby they 
were prevented from making him satisfaction in 
manner as in said act provided. 

Be it therefore enacted by the Governoi*, Coun- 
cil and Representatives, in General Court assembled, 
and by the authority of the same, That the forty- 
five owners of lots in said plantation, being such as 
are or shall be admitted to have lots there by said 
committee shall each of them, at or before the 
first day of December next, pay seven shillings and 
four pence per lot unto William Pitkin, Esq., to be 
by him delivered to the person so removed from the 
lot so reserved for a minister as aforesaid. And if 
any of the persons, so holding lots as aforesaid, shall 
refuse or neglect to make payment as aforesaid, it 
shall be lawful for said committee, or any one of 
them, to take out a v/arrant for distress, directed 
to the sheriff of Hartford county, who shall distrain 
the said sum or sums from the person or persons 
so refusing or neglecting as aforesaid, in like man- 
ner and form as by law provided for distraining 
country rates, and deliver the same to said William 
Pitkin, to be disposed of for the end aforesaid. 

Col. Rec. of Conn. 1717-1725. p. 153. 

These acts clearly related to Bolton which had not yet 
been named. 



BICENTENNIAL. 1720-1920 J.1 

NAMING AND INCORPORATING THE TOWN 

During these pre-natal days our town was designated 
sometimes as "Hartford Mountains" and at other times as 
"Hanover." Of the two names I imagine that Hartford 
Mountains was the earher. The October session of the 
General Court for 1720 was destined to be highly impor- 
tant and long to be remembered for the little community 
on the "Mountains in sight of Hartford." A petition was 
presented for the setting up of religious worship and in- 
corporation of the town. 

From manuscript at State Library. 

Prayer from Haimover, Octo. 1720. 

To the Honerable the General Assembly sitting 
at New Haven October 13 th A. D. 1720. The 
petition of us the subscribers boath inhabitants of 
Hannover or Hartford Mountains in ye County of 
Hartford Humbly shovireth that the Gentlemen Com- 
mitty appointed by this Assembly for Laying out 
and settling of said plantation did in pursuance of 
said appointment lay out and order to be laid out 
50 lotts in said town & ye same assigned to par- 
tickler persons by them admitted as inhabitants in 
said obliging them Actually to inhabitt in said town 
by the beginning of Aprill Last past on ye penalty 
of forfitting their said Lots. A considerable part of 
which Inhabitants so admitted have hitherto 
neglected to settle and inhabitt in said town accord- 
ing to ye Articles of sd committy yett we the 
present Inhabitants esteem ourselves to many to 
Live without the preaching of gods word the ordin- 
ary means of faith and Salvation; — wherefore 
Vv^e humbly pray this Honorable Assembly th* a tax 
of forty-five shillings per Lott may be granted 
on said 50 Lots, laid out or ordered to be laid out 
in said town; and said tax of forty five shillings 
per Lot to continue for the space of six years com- 
mencing from this time: and th those of ye said 50 
Lots th are not yett Laid out & assigned to par- 
tickular persons; may by said committy be laid out 
& Assigned as afore said th ye levying said tax may 
be made practicable and th we may by said Assem- 
bly be Directed & enabled to collect said tax of 
those who Live Remote & do not inhabitt with us. 
And th said tax may be extended to all those farms 
and grants of Land Lying within said town in such 
measure & proportion as said Assembly shall think 



*th — in the foregoing- is the abbreviation for that. 



12 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

Just and the said tax of Fourty-five shillings per 
Annum to be continued on those Lots th* be not act- 
ually settled According to the Regulation of said 
Committy After ye said six years is expired till 
they be so settled. Said tax to be Disposed of by 
ye said town or a committy appointed by them for 
the settling and maintaining of the ministry & wor- 
ship of god among us & other incident charges 
arising thereupon. We pray that we may be Incor- 
porated with all the privileges and immunities of 
other towns in this Collony and may in December 
next convene and make choice of such necessary 
town officers as we shall Judge convenient and nec- 
essary for our well being, and th we may thereby 
be enabled to defend our property & common 
Lands from ye dayly Incursions of our naibours on 
our Ceader timber, stone, &c; & we Desire th our 
town may be called by the present name viz Han- 
nover & a brand assigned for our horses. And we 
pray th the common Land Lying in our town may by 
our selves & ye rest of ye proprieters of said town 
be divided among ourselves According to our just 
Rights: And we do hearby make choice of John 
Bissell of our said town to profer this our said 
petition to said Assembly & receive their anser 
thereupon. As witness our hands in hannover this 
9th day of October A. Domini, 1720. 

John Clark CuUett Olcott 

Charles Loomis John Bissell 

Samuel Bump Stephen Bishop 

Daniel Dartt Abel Shailer 

John Church Timothy Olcott 

Thomas Marshall Joseph Pumory 

Samuel Raimond Nathaniel Allis 

Edward Rose 
[This is Bolton] 

Towns and Lands, Vol. III. p. 193. 

[October Session 1720] 

AN ACT FOB THE NAME AND FURTHER 
SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN OF BOLTON. 

Whereas there is a certain tract of land within 
this Colony, bounded west upon Hartford and 
Windsor, north upon a line drawn due west from 
the south bounds of Meshenupps Pond to Windsor 
bounds, east upon Tolland and Coventry, south 
upon Hebron, which by order of this Assembly 
hath been settled into fifty allotments, saving only 
about one hundred and fifty acres formerly granted 



•th — in the foregoing is the abbreviation for that. 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 13 

to John Talcott, Esq., deceas'd, and the quantity of 
two hundred acres granted to Mr. Thomas Bull, de- 
ceased: And whereas the greater part of the 
proprie [237] tors of said lands have mo\ed to this 
Assembly to give unto them the power and priv- 
ilege of a town, and to levy a tax on said land for 
the setting up and maintaining the worship of God 
there: 

Be it enacted by the Governour, Council and Rep- 
resentatives, in General Couit assembled, and by 
the authority of the same, That the said tract of 
land be held and accounted to be a town, and known 
by the name of Bolton; and the inhabitants and pro- 
prietors of said town shall have full power and 
priviledge as the other towns in this Colony, to 
choose their town oflBcers, to make by-laws or orders, 
and to raise taxes for the defraying the common 
charge of said town; and all other privileges com- 
mon to the towns in this Colony is hereby granted 
to them; only it is to be understood they have no 
power to dispose of any land within said township. 

And for the setting up and maintaining the wor- 
ship of God there, it is further enacted by the 
authority aforesaid. That a tax or rate of forty-five 
shillings allotment for forty-nine lots in the whole, 
being all the lots in said town but that laid out for 
the minister, shall be paid by the owner or owners 
thereof, to be paid annually in currant money, or 
provision as it shall be stated by the Assembly in 
publick payments, for the space of four years next 
coming, the first payment to be made on or before 
the last Tuesday of September next, and so in each 
year till four payments be made; and that the 
owners of farms or lands granted to Messrs. Talcott 
and Bull as aforesaid, shall pay in manner afore- 
said annually pro rata forty shillings for one hundred 
and fifty acres. And this Assembly do appoint 
William Pitkin and Joseph Talcott, Esq.rs, Mr. John 
Bissell and Timothy Olcott, or any three of them, a 
committee to receive said money and see that it be 
prudently laid out for the uses aforesaid, keeping 
fair accounts of their doings herein. And if any 
proprietor or proprietors shall refuse or neglect to 
pay the sum or sums whereat he is asses''-ed as 
aforesaid, the aforesaid committee, or any two of 
them, shall have power, by a warrant under some 
assistant or justice of peace his hand, to distrain for 



14 BOLTOX, CONNECTICUT 

the same, with other just and necessary charge, in 
such manner as is by law appointed for the collecting 
town rates; and if the owner of such allotments 
cannot be found in this Colony, nor his goods, to 
answer such distress, the said committee are im- 
powered to sell so much of such allotments as will 
procure the sums set as aforesaid and the necessary 
charge arising through his neglect. And this Assem- 
bly do order and impower William Pitkin, Esq., John 
Bissell and Francis Smith, or any two of them, to lay 
out the undivided lands in said town, or so much of 
it as shall be thought suitable, to the fifty allot- 
ments; the division so made to be settled severally 
upon the particular proprietors by lot, or otherwise 
as they shall agree; all to be done at the charge of 
the proprietors. And the brand for horses for said 
town shall be this figure 7 

Col. Rec. of Conn. 1717-1725, pp. 216-7. 

Past in the Uppr House Test Hez. Ulyllys, 
Secretry. 

Past in the Lower House Test Hez. Brainerd, 
Clerk. 

Reconsidered and past with the addition of Tim: 
Olcott to the committee and any three of them to 
act. Hez Brainerd, clerk. 



This petition was granted and this event we are cele- 
brating today. The indications are that the choosing of a 
name for the town was not easily settled for the original 
document shows that the name was a later insertion. It 
is difficult to state why the name Bolton was chosen. A 
suggestion has been made to the effect that the Loomis 
family, which was from the beginning very numerous and 
influential in the town, had had some connection with 
Bolton, England, about four generations before coming to 
America, and desiring to transmit the name used their in- 
fluence in its favor. However improbable this particular 
theory may seem, it must be accepted as a fact that the 
name of Bolton was chosen from the Bolton in England 
and in so doing the early settlers followed a very common 
practice as we may observe from the names of many of 
our neighboring towns, such as Coventry, Andover, Mans- 
field, Stafford, Enfield, and Hartford. 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 15 



EARLY DAYS AND BOUNDARIES 

Soon after its incorporation the first town meeting in 
Bolton was held, December i, 1720. Francis Smith was 
chosen clerk. Abiel Shaylor, John Bissell and Timothy 
Olcott were elected Selectmen. 

Bolton was bounded on the North by Windsor, East 
by Tolland and Coventry, South by Hebron, West by 
Glastonbury, Hartford and Windsor and at the time of 
its incorporation included what is now Vernon except the 
strip of territory running along the West side of that 
town which includes Talcottville. At that time this por- 
tion of Vernon was a part of Windsor. The town was 
rectangular in form being nine miles long, three miles 
wide at the South end and less than two miles wide at 
the North end. It appears that the proprietors of Bolton 
from the very beginning were not well pleased with their 
exceedingly long and narrow strip of land and brought 
charges before the General Court as early as 1723 that 
Coventry was encroaching upon their East bounds and 
asked for redress. It seems that John Hooker and Nathan- 
iel Burnham originally surveyed the Bolton-Coventry line 
and shortly after this survey, Coventry having some 
boundary dispute with Tolland asked for a resurvey of 
her bounds which was granted and the resurvey was 
made by James Wadsworth and John Hall by which Bol- 
ton lost sixty or seventy rods in width on her east side. 
Bolton made the accusation that the last surveyors used a 
chain that was a foot and a quarter too long and brought 
witnesses to support their claim. Coventry strenuously 
pressed her claim and the matter was brought before the 
General Court for several successive sessions until it must 
have become utterly weary of the controversy. Finally it 
was decided to take one surveyor from each side and order 
them to make a third survey. To whichever of the dis- 
puted lines the new survey was nearer, this should be 
adopted as the established boundary line. The result was 
that of the sixty rods in dispute the new line was three 



16 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

rods nearer the line claimed by Coventry than that claimed 
by Bolton. Hence Bolton lost her case and she was a poor 
loser, never becoming reconciled to the decision. 

During these earlier years of its existence as a tov^^n 
surveying of "homelots" was in constant progress. Each 
"homclot" was normally one hundred acres, being laid out 
sixty rods frontage and two hundred and eighty rods deep. 
The patent was granted at the May session of the General 
Court, 1731. The proprietors numbered* forty-two and 
came chielly from Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield. A 
few came from Haddam, Middletown, Plainfield, New 
London and Northampton. Of all the proprietors it is 
probable that John BisscU was the most gifted and most 
frequently called upon to represent the town in important 
matters. His homelot began on the north side of the 
Boston Road near Henr)'- Thompson's residence and ran 
east to Coventry line. Roger Wolcott was a non-resident 
proprietor. The Pitkinses and Talcotts were families of 
great distinction in the colony. The Loomises, Strongs 
and Olcotts were of excellent stock from Windsor. There 
were five of the Loomis name among the proprietors, all 
brothers or cousins. Most of them settled in the southeast 
part of the town. The Whites came from Windsor or 
Hatfield and were very prominent in the early history of 
the town. Joel White was a prosperous merchant and 
large property holder. Of these forty-two original propri- 
etors only two have transmitted their names in Bolton 
uninterruptedly during these two hundred years until the 
present time. Deacon Charles N. Loomis, under whose 
shade trees we are gathered, and his brother William H. 
Loomis are descendants of the proprietor Thomas Loomis. 
Frank H. Strong, our first selectman, is a descendant of 

*The followinR- is a complete list of tlie proprietors: Joseph 
Tnlcott. Thomiis IMtkin, RoRor Wolcott, Rev. Thomas White, John 
Bissell, heirs of William Pitkin, Nathaniel Talontt. Nathaniel Allis, 
Samuel T!ump, Cornelius Birpre. John Church, John Clark, Joseph 
Colyer. iieirs of .lolin Craw, Daniel Darte, Ebenezer Darte, Daniel 
Darte. jr.. IVIa'th.w DeWolf, St(>i)hen Joliiis, Hezekiah King, heirs 
of Ensisn Natlianiel Loomis. James Jjoomis, Cliru-les Loomis, Jabez 
Loomis, Thomas Loomis, heirs of .lohn Marsliall, ICdward Rose, 
Abel Sliaylor Kraneis Smith, Jonnlliaii Strons', Benjamin Talcott, 
Timothy Oleott, Joel White, Samuel Brown, heirs of Caleb Stanley, 
Samuel Bartlett, Lt. Thomas Oleott, Joseph Olmsted, Ephram Tuck- 
er, 01)a(liali Dickenson, John Bishop, John Goodwin, heirs of Jona- 
than iriil.haid. 



BICEXTEXXIAL. 1T20-1£»20 17 

the proprietor David Strong-. This statement applies to 
the present bounds of Bolton. In the Vernon section 
there are Dart and Talcott families who can make the 

same claim. 

Scarcely had the one hundred acre homelots been laid 
when committees were appointed to make additional as- 
signments of land from unassigiied tracts. A second 
division of fifty acres was granted to each proprietor, a 
third division of twenty-five acres and so continuing with 
divisions of diminishing size until the twelfth division 
was reached. Accessions were being continually made to 
the population during these years. Dr. Ichabod Warner 
came from Windham, Saul Alvord from Northampton, the 
Hammonds from Coventry, the Lymans from Northamp- 
ton, the Skinners from Colchester, the Maines from Ston- 
ington, the Carpenters from Coventry and later the Stun- 
ners from Hebron. 

A census of the town taken in 1750 showed a popula- 
tion of 751 whites, II blacks and one Indian. In 1701, 
five years later, there were S46 whites and 11 blacks. This 
population was so distributed that the first Society or 
Bolton proper, outnumbered the north Vernon section al- 
most two to one. The excellent water power of the north 
section led to the establishment of the Iron Works on 
the Hockanum near Snipsic Lake by the Skinner family. 
Other mills and industries followed and Rockville soon 
became a thriving commimity. 

In May, 17S8. a petition was made to the General 
Assembly by the residents of the East part of East 
\\'indsor. who had previously been annexed to the North 
Ecclesiastical Society of Bolton, that they might also be 
joined to the town of Bolton, since it would be more con- 
venient for them to attend the town and public meeting-s 
in I'olton than in East Windsor. The petition was granted 
at the ]May session of the Assembly in 17S0. Thus the 
North boundary line of the town was widened about a 
mile and a half taking in what is now Talcottville and the 
section lying north of that village. But Bolton was des- 
tined ro enjov the satisfaction of her enlarged boundaries 



18 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

for a brief period. Twenty 3^ears later in 1808 the North 
Society, having felt for some years the inconvenience of 
attending- public meetings at Bolton Center, was set off as 
a separate town under the name of Vernon, So Bolton 
lost that portion of its domain that possessed the greatest 
natural advantages and the part that was destined to in- 
crease most rapidly in population. Such was the begin- 
ning and early history of the settlement of Bolton. An in- 
timate view of the family life of those earl}' times may be 
secured from an interview of Sylvester Judd of Northamp- 
ton with Mrs. Jonathan Birge, a daughter of Dr. Ichabod 
Warner. Mrs. Birge was born in Bolton in 1775. Mr. 
Judd's notes on the interview are as follows : 

Mrs. Birge's father was in good circumstances had 
much practice but family all brought up to work all 
spun and had great bunches of yarn two woolers 
some worsted, some cotton. The carding and 
hetchelling was mostly hired and wool hired combed. 
No carding machines thought of. Cloth whitened 
in lye in a tube at night and spread out in day time 
and watered with water. 

"Carriages" In Bolton she thinks only one chaise 
when she was young — owned by the minister Rev. 
Geo. Colton. It opened so as to make a wing out 
each side. Another before she was married — some 
horse carts — no waggons. She says roads were not 
fit for chaises. 

"Ijiving at Her Fathers" Commonly meat of some 
kind and tea for breakfast. Sometimes coffee but 
children had bread and milk. At dinner boiled meat 
and vegetables with Indian Pudding — sometimes 
roast meat. Hot supper in general — all had bread 
and milk — no tea at night, unless they had company. 

*'Bean Broth" Meat was boiled and some beans 
with it. Beans were boiled after meat was taken 
out and became soft and was good. She thinks it 
was not thickened with any flour or meal but ^he 
says the broth in which fowls had been boiled was 
sometimes thickened and was good. They had shad 
and other fish. 

"The Sabbath" The vegetables if any were all 
prepared on Saturday. No beds were made until 
after sun down Sunday — only spread up in the 
morning. 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 19 

"Balls" were common in her younger days. Horse 
blocks were common and side saddles. Girls had 
side saddles and pillow as part of marriage portion. 
She had them — Her saddle cost $20. She has seen 
horse canter when carrying double. 

"Umbrellas" There was but one in Bolton when 
she lived there. She and others used to watch it at 
the meeting house on a drizzley or lowery day and 
see it open and shut — thought it was curious. 
Gamble and Gloaks and Ridding Hoods sheds rain 
very well. Many men and women wore camblet. 
The riding hood came down low like a cloak and had 
a large head or hood that would cover any bonnet. 
Some females wore beaver hats with feathers. 

"Schools" They had in Bolton in her younger 
years — master in winter and female in summer three 
to four months. Each school 6, 7 and 8 months in 
year. They had Dilworth and afterwards Web- 
ster's Spelling book. Psalter or testament and after- 
wards Third part. Teachers boarded round. 
Catichism was taught in school and when the minis- 
ter visited the school he asked all the questions in 
the Gatichism as well as heard them read and spell, 
etc. In her later scholl years her father bought 
Guthrie's Great Geography and she studied it at 
school and two or three others did. A few studied 
grammar. Choosing sides for spelling was done. 
One at the head of each side chose alternately, select- 
ing the best spellers first but took all in certain class- 
es. Those who were last chosen were the poorest spell- 
ers and looked cheap. Catichism was not said in the 
meeting house. Dialogues were learned and per- 
formed when she went to school in Bolton. When 
she was a dozen years old they had an exhibition in 
the meeting house, the tops of the pews were cov- 
ered with boards and blankets and blankets hung 
under the galleries or a part of them. She had a 
part to perform. 

Rev. George Colton was her minister. He preached 
against the exhibition in the meeting house after it 
was over. Used to preach against balls and other 
frolics of young people, yet they danced and did 
much as they pleased. 

A Pitch Pipe was first introduced when she was 
young. It grievously offended some people. Singers 
sat in the four seats in the gallery ever since her 
recollection. Males sat on one side. Females the 
other side of the gallery. Below males and females 
or men and wives sat together. 



20 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 



ORGANIZATION AND HISTORY 
OF THE CHURCHES 

Our New England ancestors could always be de- 
pended upon to make their religion paramount to all 
other things. In their petition for incorporation they did 
not fail to make known that they desired to establish re- 
ligious worship and asked that measures should be taken 
to secure that end. 

At the May session in 1725 the General Court granted 
the petition of the inhabitants of Bolton for the organiza- 
tion of a church in the following terms : 

[May Session, 1725] 

Upon the petition of the inhabitants of the town 
of Bolton: This Assembly grants them liberty to im- 
body into church estate and to call and settle an 
orthodox minister among them, with the approba- 
tion of the neighboring churches. 

Upon the petition of Bolton: It is enactfd and 
resolved, that the tax be further continued on the 
lands in said Bolton for the space of three years 
coming, in manner following, viz: for every lot laid 
out in said town, viz: forty-nine lots, the owners of 
said lots shall pay annually thirty shillings per lot; 
the first payment to be paid by the first day of 
September next, and so annually on the first of Sep- 
tember in each year till the three years be expired. 
And it is further ordered and enacted, that all the 
owners of such farms and grants of land as lye in 
said township shall pay annually as aforesaid for 
their said farms in the same manner and proportion 
with said lots as was by this Assembly ordered in the 
grant of the former taxes on said farms in October 
A. D., 1720; and that the former committee, viz: 
Timothy Olcott and John Bissell, be hereby appointed 
to collect and receive said tax in the same manner 
in which they were directed respecting the former 
taxes Oct. 1720, and that they, said committee, keep 
fair accounts of their doings therein, disposing said 
taxes for the settling and maintaining the worship 
of God in said town. 

Col. Rec. of Conn. 1717-1725, pp. 529,530. 




CONGREC.ATIONAL CHURCH 



BICENTENNIAL,, 1720-1920 21 

At a town meeting held in Bolton December 14, 1730, 
it was voted that the "Meeting House be seated and that 
the seats be dignified as foUowith, viz : the fore pew the 
highest and the pew in the North West corner of the 
Meeting the next — 3rdly, the fore seat; 4th the middle 
pew ; 5th the second seat ; and sixthly the pew by the door 
and then the third seat and so successively the rest of ye 
Seats. Voted that the Seaters shall have in consideration 
the following rules in seating the inhabitants, viz : Every 
man to be seated shall be considered at thirty years of 
age — and every year after to be called one pound — only to 
be considered paid at every five years end from said thirty 
— voted that every commission from the Governor shall be 
reckoned at five pounds. Voted that the last List reckon- 
ing but one head in the List shall be a rule to seat by — 
Voted that John Bissell, Esq., Mr. Thomas Pitkin and 
Sergt. Jonathan Strong be seators to seat the Meeting 
House by the Rules above said. Voted that John Bissell, 
Esq., be seated in the fore pew." 

Religious services were certainly held here as early as 
1722 or 1723 for at a town meeting in Bolton November 
17, 1721, definite plans were made for the building of a 
church as indicated by the following vote : "Voted that the 
Meeting House shall stand a little north of the pound and 
said Meeting House shall be of the following dimensions, 
viz : Forty foott long and thirty five foott Wide and 
twenty foot between Joynts. Voated at said meeting yt 
John Bissell, Timothy Olcot and Francis Smith be a com- 
mitty to carry on said Affair of Building said Meeting 
house." This building stood nearly in the center of the 
Green and was in use for about forty years. May 27, 1723, 
it was voted to call Rev. Jonathan Edwards, then twenty 
years old and recently graduated from Yale College, to 
become the first pastor in Bolton. Mr. Edwards accepted 
the call November 11, 1723, and his signature stands on 
our town records. He was to receive tw^o hundred and 
twenty pounds for his settlement and salary for the first 
two years and the same rights in real estate and divisions 
of land in the town as the other proprietors. His salary 
was to be increased yearly and paid one half in money and 



22 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

the other half in Indian Corn and wheat. Every male in- 
habitant over sixteen years old was to work for the min- 
ister two days every year for three years, fencing and 
clearing his land as well as cutting and carting his wood. 
Soon after this call Mr. Edwards was appointed tutor at 
Yale and was released from his engagement at Bolton. In 
his diary he speaks of a remarkable religious experience 
while walking in the fields of Bolton, It is universally 
acknowledged that Jonathan Edwards possessed the keen- 
est intellect and most logical mind of any man that ever 
graduated at Yale College. 

The church then called Rev. Thomas White a class- 
mate at Yale of Jonathan Edwards and he was settled as 
first pastor of the Bolton Church October 27, 1725, which 
was the probable date of its organization. It began with 
seventeen members, all bringing letters from other 
churches. Four came from Coventry, four from New 
London, three from Northampton, two from Lyme and 
one each from Lebanon, Mansfield, East Griswold and 
Haddam. His successor left this record of him : "Mr. 
White was in height above the ordinary stature. He was 
of a full habit, with a very portly appearance, with a loud 
and sweet sounding voice. He was a very companionable 
man, and possessed the faculty of rendering all in his 
company happy. He was a sound orthodox preacher, a 
friend of peace and order." Mr. White held the pastorate 
imtil his death, February 22, 1763, His residence was the 
"Minister's farm," latel}^ owned by Frank C. Sumner. 

In 1762 a year before Mr. White's death the Second or 
North Church Society was organized at Vernon, taking 
from the mother church thirty-five members. Rev. Eben- 
ezer Kellogg was the first pastor. 

In September, following Mr. White's death, the 
church invited Rev, George Colton to become its pastor 
and he was installed November 9, 1763. Mr. Colton grad- 
uated at Yale College in 1756 and continued his pastorate 
at Bolton for forty-nine years. He was deeply interested 
in missions and bequeathed nearly all his property to the 
Connecticut Missionary Society. On account of his 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 23 

"height, six feet, seven inches, Mr. Colton was called the 
"High Priest" of Bolton. Many stories are told of the wit 
and eccentricity of Mr. Colton. About to enter upon a 
second marriage he announced from the pulpit, "I, myself, 
George Colton, and widow Martha Strong, both of Bolton, 
intend marriage." At a meeting in Hartford Dr. Strong 
invited Mr. Colton who had just entered the room to offef 
prayer in the following words : 

"Brother Colton 

of Bolton, 
Will you come this way 
and Pray?" 
• 
Mr. Colton's ready response was : 

"Why, Brother Strong 

I think you do wrong 
In making rhyme 

At this solemn time. 
Let us pray." 

After the death of Mr. Colton the church had some 
difficulty in securing a pastor. After a period of three 
years Rev. Philander Parmelee was settled as pastor. The 
church prospered under his ministry. Sixty persons were 
admitted to membership in 1819. Mr. Parmelee died at 
the age of thirty-nine when he had gained the affections of 
his people to a wonderful degree. 

Rev. Lavius Hyde was the next pastor, whom every- 
one loved and who loved everyone. Mrs. Hyde was a 
very talented woman and a writer of church hymns. Mr. 
Hyde remained as pastor for seven years until 1830. In 
1849 he returned and entered upon a second pastorate of 
eleven years. 

Rev. James Ely, who had been a missionary to the 
Sandwich Islands, was pastor from 1830 to 1846. After 
Mr. Hyde's pastorate the following served the church as 
pastors: Rev. W. E. B. Moore, Rev. Luther H. Barber, 
Rev. Willis M. Cleveland, Rev. Henry Robertson, Rev. 
Francis Pile, Rev. Cyrus M. Perry, Rev. James Roberts, 
Rev. Charles Burt, Rev. William C. Bessellievre, Rev. 



24 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

Raymond Fowles and Rev. Frank H. Abbott the present 
pastor. 

The first church edifice was taken down in 1767 and a 
new one built on the same site, which remained until 1848 
■when the present building was erected. There have been 
at last fourteen ministers raised up here under the tutelage 
of this old church. Rev, Joseph Lathrop, Rev. Jonathan 
Strong, Rev. Salmon Cone, Rev. Marshfield Steele, Rev. 
Hart Talcott, Rev. Jared Andrus, Rev. Chester Birge, 
Rev. John L. Howard, Rev. Lyman Warner, Rev. Freder- 
ick Alvord, Rev. Augustus Alvord, Rev. Carlos C. Car- 
penter, Rev. Henry C. Alvord, and Rev. Washington 
Forbes. 

A Universalist Society was organized about 1830. 
Their church building stood near the Southwest corner of 
Cedar Swamp Pond on the Boston Road. 

The Methodist Chvirch began its work at an early date 
in Bolton with the first camp meeting ever held in a New 
England town. The noted itinerant preacher Lorenzo 
Dow was the leader and great crowds were attracted to 
his meetings which were held May 30 to June 3, 1805, 
near the Andover town line directly east of the Sotith 
District School house. Rev. Mr. Colton was deeply of- 
fended at this encroachment upon his rights. Camp meet- 
ings were held later near camp meeting spring on the 
South Manchester road. 

The first Methodist Church was built at Ouarryville 
in 1834 near the present edifice. This building was sold to 
the Universalists in 185 1 and moved some distance west 
and a new church was built the following year. Joseph 
Ireson was the first pastor in 1823. 

SCHOOLS 

There is no record of the date when the first schools 
were established in Bolton, but it appears that Daniel 
White taught school in the Middle and Lower end ten 
weeks in 1738 for £10, us, 8d. John Hutchins, Benjamin 
Talcott, Jonathan King, Jonathan Strong and Hannah 
Flills taught at the upper end. 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 25 



INDUSTRIES 

The abundant water power of the hills of Bolton led 
to the establishment of numerous mills at a very early 
date. Francis Smith was probably the lirst one to erect a 
grist mill on one of the brooks in the east section of the 
town. John Bissell built a saw mill on the Reservoir 
brook. Daniel Griswold ran a corn mill in the "Hollow." 
Bishop's mills consisted of a saw mill and grist mill in the 
southeast corner of the town later known as Chappel's 
Mills. Asabel Skinner ran a saw mill and grist mill on the 
Reservoir brook and later built a clothiers shop and fulling 
mill for his son Sylvester Skinner. There were two hat 
shops, one at the center and one in the south part of the 
town. Distilleries and cider brandy stills were also oper- 
ated by members of very respectable families. The Bolton 
Quarries near the Vernon line were well known and in 
operation for about seventy-five years. Flagging stones 
from these quarries were shipped to all parts of the coun- 
try cast of the Mississippi and were considered of fine 
quality. Grindstones were ([uarried by Jabez Loomis, 
now Charles F. Sumner place, 

TAVERNS 

Deacon Saul Alvord and his son Capt. Saul Alvord 
kept a tavern at Bolton Center before and after the Rev- 
olutionary War. Thomas White kept tavern about one 
half mile east of the center church about the same period. 
Abner Loomis kept tavern in the south part of the town 
on the Finley place. Fitch's Tavern was the late New 
England House. Olcot's tavern was located in the 
Quarryville section. With the advent of the railroad the 
stage disappeared and the tavern died a natural death. 

ROADS 

Before the Revolutionary War the roads were in- 
tended only for horseback riding and were naturally very 
crude affairs. There were three main highways crossing 
the town from cast to west. In the north section the 



26 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

Tolland-Windsor road, through Bolton Notch the Boston 
Road and through Bolton Center the Hartford-Lebanon 
road. All these were of very early origin. Toll-gates were 
set up on the main highways. 

MILITIA 

In the colonial days every able bodied man belonged 
to the militia. This gave a fine opportunity for many to 
secure military titles. The following is a partial list of 
the captains: Benjamin Talcott, Joel White, Mathew 
Loomis, Moses Thrall, Thomas Pitkin, jr., Stephen Johns, 
Peter Olcott, Ezekiel Olcott, Hezekiah King, Jonathan 
Birdge and Saul Alvord. Training days were gala days 
for everyone in town. Everybody turned out on these oc- 
casions- At one of the trainings on Bolton Green about 
the year 1835 a frightful accident occurred. It was late in 
the afternoon. Cider brandy had been passed around a 
little too freely and some of the young men stuffed the 
cannon with stones and turfs. When fired the cannon 
exploded causing the death of one man. 

BOLTON IN THE WARS 

Several soldiers from Bolton died in the French and 
Indian War. Levi Strong at Fort Edward, July 25, 1757 ; 
Charles King at Lake George, Sept. 6, 1758; Thomas 
Wells on his return from the army from Crown Point, 
November 30, 1759; Stephen Boardman, jr., at Oswego 
after the conquest of Montreal; Jonathan Wright, jr., at 
Oswego; Hosea Bronson at Havana, October 2, 1762. 

The town was wide awake during the Revolutionary 
War and as early as 1774 passed votes in town meeting de- 
claring its allegiance to King George, expressing sympathy 
for Boston in its distress and giving assurance of its readi- 
ness to join in defending American Liberty. A committee 
of correspondence was appointed consisting of Thomas 
Pitkin, Esq., Dr. Ichabod Warner, Isaac Fellows, Samuel 
Carver, jr., and Benjamin Talcott, jr., to promote and 
forward contributions for the relief of Boston. At a town 
meeting Feb. 6, 1777, it was voted that Capt. Joel White, 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 27 

Ensign Benjamin Trumbull, Dr. Ichabod Warner, Seth 
King, David Allis, Lieut. Isaac Fellows and Saul Alvord 
be appointed a committee of inspection for the town of 
Bolton. At the "Lexington Alarm" April, 1775, sixty- 
three men volunteered from Bolton. Capt. Jonathan Birge 
was mortally wounded at White Plains and died at Stam- 
ford November 10, 1776, at the age of forty-two. Capt. 
Edward Paine entered the service as an ensign, was at 
White Plains, N. Y., and later was Brigadier General in 
the New York State Militia. He died in Lake County, 
Ohio. A division of the French Army marching from 
Newport to join General Washington on the Hudson 
passed through Bolton Center. One Loomis living on the 
old Bailey place had scruples about using his team to as- 
sist in hauling the artillery up the hills on Sunday morn- 
ing. The officer in command ignored Loomis and pressed 
his team into service. Rev. Mr. Colton entertained the 
French officer at his home and desired to adopt a small 
boy who was with his mother in the company, offering 
several "Louis D'Ors," but the mother would not consent. 
An incomplete list of Revolutionary soldiers from Bolton 
may be found in "Connecticut Men in the Revolution" 
and in the article on Bolton by Dr. C. F. Sumner in Tol- 
land County History. 

In the Civil War Bolton responded generously fur- 
nishing fifty men. In the Spanish War and the late 
"World War" she did her full share. 

The Post Ofifice was established in Bolton Sept. 30, 
1812, w^ith Saul Alvord as the first Postmaster. By a 
strange coincidence, the post office has recently returned 
to its first location. 

The first representatives in the State legislature from 
Bolton were Stephen Cone and Joel White, elected in 
1750. Benjamin Talcott was representative twenty-nine 
times, Samuel Carver twenty-seven, Joel White twenty- 
six, Oliver King eighteen times, and Saul Alvord sixteen 
times, 

Bolton was fortunate in its early physicians. Dr. John 
Hutchins was here as early as 1747. Dr. Ichabod Warner 
settled here in 1761, very prominent)in his profession and 



28 BOLTON, CONNECTICUT 

active in public affairs. Dr. Samuel Cooley and Dr. Eleazer 
McCray followed Dr. Warner. Dr. Jabez L. White was a 
distinguished physician. He served also as state senator 
and treasurer of the State. Dr. Orrin Hunt and Dr. 
Charles F. Sumner were the last resident physicians in 
Bolton. No historical sketch on Bolton could be complete 
without special mention of Dr. Sumner. He was pre- 
eminently Bolton's historian and from mere love for the 
work he delved deeply into the ancient records and inter- 
viewed the older inhabitants concerning their recollections 
of the past. Many facts recorded in this sketch are the 
result of his careful research. 

Bolton has never had many resident lawyers. Perhaps 
its people were too law abiding to need them. 

Saul Alvord graduated from Yale College in 1800 and 
practiced law here until his death in 1842. 

We can merely touch upon a few of the most promi- 
nent men who have gone from Bolton. Hon. Benjamin 
Ruggles who passed his early life in this town became a 
prominent lawyer and Judge in the State of Ohio and 
was three times elected U. S. Senator from that State. 

Hon. Julius L. Strong was born in Bolton in 1828, 
practiced law in Hartford and was elected to Congress in 
1869 and was re-elected in 1872. 

Hon. William Williams was born in Bolton in 1815, 
removed to Buffalo and became a banker and president 
and director of railroads. He was elected to Congress in 
1871. 

Joel W. White, born in Bolton in 1795, removed to 
Norwich where he was Cashier of the Merchants' Bank 
and President of the Norw^ich & Worcester Railroad. He 
was appointed consul at Liverpool, England, and Lyons, 
France. 

While Bolton cannot claim to be the birthplace of 
Hon. George G. Sumner, she has always felt that he be- 
longed to her on account of his long residence with us and 
intimate association in all the affairs of the town. Mr. 
Sumner practiced law in Hartford, was Mayor of the city 



BICENTENNIAL, 1720-1920 29 

and Lieutenant Governor of the State. His kind acts and 
genial manners will long" be cherished by our people. 

Daniel Russell Brown, born in 1848 on Birch Moun- 
tain in Bolton, engaged in business in Rockville and Provi- 
dence and was Governor of Rhode Island 1893-1895. 

Many others deserve more than a passing notice, but 
limited time and space make it impossible to extend this 
brief sketch. The writer has found his greatest difficulty 
in deciding what could best be left out. 

]My conclusion is that we have a right to feel that we 
have a goodly heritage. The men who first settled here, 
clearing these lands, building these stone walls, bringing 
order out of chaos were men of a rugged nature and high 
ideals. Thev are entitled to our deepest respect. 






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